Of Sea Bunnies and Seafaring Foxes
by Pirxeval
Summary: What if Zootopia was an ocean world of pirates, soldiers, ships, and magic? What if Judy Hopps was a Mermaid? What if Nick Wilde was a sailor? This is what it would have been like.


(A/N: So I'm writing the second chapter of Animalia: Stone when hit a big ole' slab of the dreaded Writers' Block. During my stupor, This little idea pops into my head when I think of mermaids and pirates. I'm like: _What if Judy was a mermaid and Nick was a pirate?_ And thus, this was born. So I had to get this down. And then I decided to post it.

I was gonna make this a oneshot kind of thing but then I realized it was six in the morning. So I decided to make this the first chapter. So I'll just use this story as a place to get rid of my Writers' Block when I need to. But who knows? Maybe people will love this and I'll focus on this for now.

So anyway I hope you guys enjoy it.)

 _ **Disclaimer:**_ **Zootopia and its characters belong to Disney, not me.**

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"'Urry up and finish, fox! The cap'n'll be out and about 'fore midday! And if ya dun't finish 'fore then then, he'll be wearin' ya 'round his neck!"

Nicholas P. Wilde flinches at each exclamation of his superior, nearly dropping his scraping tool into the sea below when he had jumped at the first shout.

He looks up and gives an unabashed grin towards the rhino that was standing high above him, safe and sound behind the lip of the ship while Nicholas slaved away while hanging off the side, scraping off large and pesky barnacles. "Don't you worry, Archy! I'll have this done way before the cap's up!" He flicks a two-fingered salute and a confidant wink.

Giving a final snort with a scowl on his face, Archy the rhino lumbers off. Nicholas lets his arm fall back to his side and goes limp in his harness. He breathes deeply and sighs, trying to drain his body of exhaustion through that single huff. It doesn't work.

"Durrrr- cap'n will be wern' ya roun' his neck- doy-" Nicholas scoffs. "Go soak your head, you peanutbrain." Nicholas mumbles with a grimace, his words dripping in venom.

Nicholas sighs again. He rolls over in his harness, staring down into the green foam and the sea below, a far away look in his eyes.

' _How did I ever get here?'_ Nicholas thinks to himself somberly.

This is the life of the fox known as Nicholas Piberious Wilde and has been for the last year and a half. Nicholas is thirty-two years old and he had been wanting to follow his dreams and shove off to sea as a captain of his own vessel for twenty-six years. He had wanted to take after his father who had been a well respected and well-known privateer under the payroll of the king of Zootropolis himself, Leodore Lionheart.

Nicholas' father was Jonathan Victor Wilde, a dashing red fox with a knack for sword and gunplay and a penchant for pretty vixens. At least, that was before he met Nicholas' mother, Mary. Jonathan Wilde was a fierce ex-pirate and later an even fiercer privateer whose loyalty to the crown was only second to his loyalty to his own family. Unfortunately, three years after the birth of his son, he was killed in the line of duty to the crown by his old pirate crew who likely felt aggrieved by Jonathan's new life choices.

So, until the age of eight, Nicholas Wilde helped his mother as they worked their fingers to the bone to rack together enough money to send Nicholas to The Refined School of Sailing, which was something of a fancy university. When they finally worked up enough money, Nicholas kissed his mother goodbye and left to endure five grueling years in that horrid school. For those five years, Nicholas was accosted by many petty bullies and a lot of unadulterated discrimination of his own kind. As a result of this horrid, horrid experience, Nicholas had learned to seal away his emotions and his reactions. He built stone walls around his heart in order to protect what was left of it. This had the unfortunate side effect of making him blind to his once-moral ways that were imbued into him by his loving mother. It also had the sad side effect of him not making very many friends.

Fortunately, during his final years in the school, Nicholas had found a kindred spirit in the form of a short but intimidating fennec fox by the name of Finn Fenton. Nicholas Wilde and Finn Fenton soon became the subtle kings and very obvious "bad boys" of the school for the last two years of learning, as Nicholas and his new friend pulled many pranks and tricks on the staff and students. Fortunately, his new reputation did not lessen the quality of Nicholas' grades any, but the same couldn't be said of his friend Finn. Eventually, Finn Fenton had dropped out of the school with a promise to meet Nicholas again "on the other side", as the fennec had seen the red fox as something of a little brother.

After one more year of learning, Nicholas finally graduated at the top of his class and was on his way home for the first time in five years. Of course, he and his mother had sent letters of encouragement and love back and forth during the years, but Nicholas began to receive his mother's mail less and less. This had worried him greatly so he had thrown himself into his studies to distract himself at the time.

It came as a great shock to him when he returned home to find his mother's house burned to ash.

He cried for hours and hours on the remains of his mother's home.

Eventually, he was found by his old friend Finn, who had become a rather successful chef at a nearby brothel that was run by his mother. Feeling the need to assist his honorary brother, Finn took Nicholas into his home and gave him food and shelter, seeing as how the only home Nicholas had known before rushing off to school was the very same one that had burned down.

For a few years, Nicholas worked and lived in silence. The only mammals he would open up to were his best friend, Finn, and Finn's mother, who had accepted Nicholas as her own.

One night, Nicholas had returned to the brothel in a much more… _determined_ state than when he had left, which was a stark change from the usually subtly somber mood that would permeate the air around him. And so for the next few years, Nicholas had suddenly thrown himself into the outside world once more, leaving behind his newfound family with a warm farewell.

Nicholas worked his tail off, doing many various jobs, both dirty and legal. He gained connections in many places as well, both in the official houses and mammals and the dank underbellies of the criminal world. One day, Nicholas finally found what he was looking for- he found his old dream- something that he had lost during his time in that awful school: _His dream to become captain of his very own ship._

He later made his way onto the ship of a very respectable privateer and began to work his way up from cabin boy. Unfortunately, this was bad timing, seeing as how only a week after his employment, Nicholas was captured and forcefully indentured by pirates after his original captain was killed and his ship sunk during an excursion to Tortuga in attempt to clear a portion of it of pirate filth. Now that he looks back on the mission, it was very likely, Nicholas believes, that the king was trying to rid himself of a very cocky privateer that had gotten too big for his breeches.

During the next year, Nicholas Wilde's already heated hatred toward pirates became seething as he endured even more discrimination and pain as he watched them pillage small ships and attack poor civilians. But during all this, Nicholas Wilde, son of Jonathan Wilde and Mary Maiden, could do nothing but watch and clean and work in order to stay useful to his new "employers".

And here he stayed for the next year and a half, cursing every single pirate on the ship in secret and making many plans to escape and/or kill every pirate on this vessel. Swearing on his mother's and his father's graves that when he escaped, he would become the greatest ship captain Zootropolis- nay, Zootopia- NO, Animalia had ever seen and rid the world of all scum and detritus in the shape of mammals. Especially _pirates_.

Nicholas sighs for a third time before he flips back over and goes back to work on the barnacles.

' _Someday.'_ Nicholas thinks to himself. ' _Someday.'_

A cold sea breeze blows past Nicholas, rustling his already mussed up fur. His ears pull down to his head and his body shivers uncontrollably for a moment. After the breeze passes, he shakes the shiver out of himself before looking off in the direction of which the cold breeze had come rushing from. In the distance he sees something that makes his fur stand on end and his ears fold back as another shiver shoots through his body, this one produced by pure and unfiltered fear.

A wall of dark, bulky, and low hanging clouds is on the horizon and growing fast. He spots pillars of bright light strike down from the grey titan and into the ocean below it as though it is taking steps with lightning itself.

' _It's a goddamn hurricane.'_ Nicholas thinks to himself as his eyes widen in fear.

Just as he begins to pull himself up by his harness in attempt to get to relative safety on the ship, he flinches as a loud and commanding voices bowls over his eardrums.

"Just what do you think you're doing, _fox_?" The voice drawls out, gravely and intimidating.

Nicholas snaps his attention to the mammal above him. It's the captain of the vessel, a vile and cruel pirate by the name of Whesker. Whesker is a portly tiger with piercing, icy blue eyes and a permanent sneer on his face. A large tricorn sits on his head and he wears a bright red coat over his clothes and breeches. His grin widens at Nicholas' flinching.

Nicholas quickly gathers his courage to speak again. But before he gets a word out-

"Are those barnacles I see?"

-Whesker speaks again.

Nicholas' mouth opens and closes repeatedly as he tries to refocus his fear-addled mind to create a response. He finally manages to form words.

"B-but sir-" Nicholas stutters.

Whesker speaks again. "I thought I told you to be done with these before I finished my bath."

Nicholas holds back a growl. ' _Pretentious piece of shi-'_

Nicholas shakes his head. It doesn't matter how much he hates his "captain", he needs to warn him now!

As Whesker opens his maw to speak once more, Nicholas quickly interrupts. "SIR!" He shouts. "The horizon! Look!" Nicholas points to the danger in the distance as he holds onto the rope tightly with his other hand.

Whesker gets a look of anger on his face before looking in the direction which Nicholas indicated. Whesker's look turns to one which depicts absolute horror. The tiger stares for a moment, seemingly frozen with fear before leaving Nicholas and rushing off. "To your stations! To your stations now, mammals!-" Nicholas hears him shout before a loud booming noise drowns him out and rumbles into Nicholas' chest and ears.

Nicholas looks back to the hurricane. His eyes widen and his jaw drops in terror.

The massive titan of a wall of grey is nearly overhead. The underside of the nephological monstrosity is in view, the belly even darker than the outside as it casts a colossal shroud of dark over the wild ocean under it. Waves of sizes ranging from gigantic to mountainous crash and rave under the thick hover of intimidating darkness.

Nicholas blinks and chokes and sputters as cold, salty water is shoved down his throat by an unexpected wave.

Nicholas is shaken out of his fear-induce stupor by a second wave and he tries to pull his way up his he is hit by another wave. And another. Then another. Nicholas is thrown like a ragdoll by the waves as though they are playing ping pong with his little body. Salty sea water is constantly shoved down his throat, up his nose, and into his eyes and ears with every crash and every wave as he flails about.

Nicholas doesn't know when he slipped out of his harness and unceremoniously joined the crashing chaos of the sea below. But he did. It all happened so quick.

Nicholas manages to keep his head above the water for all of fifteen seconds to see his ship at least a mile away from him in a flash of lightning before it keels over and disappears into the terrifying waves. He sees no sky above him. Only the dark black and grey of the monolithic beast above.

Suddenly, more waves. More water. Everything goes dark.

It's cold. So cold. But calm. Nicholas no longer feels the rough shoves and crashes of the malevolent ocean waves. His arms are too exhausted to move- his legs are no different. It's so calm. Nicholas risks a peek with his eyes.

He's underwater. He sees the chaotic waves above as they are frequently lit up by flashes of lightning. The salt burns his eyes. He shuts them as tight as he can but they still burn. He realizes he is holding his breath. Everything is so calm. Nicholas contemplates breathing in but decides to only do so when his lungs begin to burn, which he is very sure is very soon.

' _Why?'_ Nicholas thinks somberly, ' _Why must this happen to me? This my fault. I didn't act soon enough. I could have avoided this. All of this.'_

Nicholas' thoughts shoot rapidly back and forth in his mind as he blames himself over and over again. He wants to cry but the ocean impedes him, replacing his tears with seawater continuously. He thinks of all he has done in his life and about all the mammals he has met. He thinks about his favorite teacher, Miss Hornigald, a beaver, and thanks her silently. He thinks of Finn, or Finnick as he so nicknamed him, and thanks him profusely for his friendship. He thinks of his mother and thanks her infinitely for her support. He thanks his father for trying so hard for him and mother.

' _Mother. Father.'_ Nicholas' thoughts echo in the vast dark of the ocean. ' _I hope… to see you… soon.'_

He lets his breath go.

He feels something warm and soft wrap around his lips as everything goes completely dark.

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(A/N: And that's it. Hope you guys liked it. Next chapter will introduce Judy. So be excited for that. I'm gonna go sleep now. Goodnight.)


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